Top Prospect
Alert - Andy Marte
DOB: 10/21/83, Age: 18, Bats/Throws: R/R, Height: 6’1’’,
Weight: 185. Acquired: Braves - Signed as a free agent from the Dominican
Republic in September of 2000. 2001
Stats: (Rookie - Danville) .200 AVG, 125 AB, 6 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 3 SB, 20
BB, 45 K, .310 OBP, .272 SLG. 2002 Stats: (Low-A - Macon) .281 AVG, 484
AB, 32 2B, 4 3B, 21 HR, 2 SB, 41 BB, 112 K, .340 OBP, .494 SLG.
Andy Marte is the "nom du jour" at the top of
the list among the more recently discovered third-base prospects. A
Dominican signee just two short years ago, Marte has been tearing the
cover off of the ball in the Sally League most of this season. He is
second in the league in homers, first in RBIs, and second in extra-base
hits this season for Macon, and has frequently shown off his best
attribute: a quick line-drive batting stroke. The ball most definitely
does jump off his bat a little more than with most eighteen year olds, and
his level swing generates doubles, triples, and homers to all fields.
Every statement regarding his plate discipline seems to be prefaced by the
words "for his age," which means that it is subpar on the whole, but not
decidedly so. He could be 14, however, and would still need to cut back on
his 112-and-counting punchout figure for the year. Like most kids, he is
still very susceptible to a decent breaking pitch, so his next series of
hitting adjustments will need to be geared toward fixing that. On the
bases, Marte has barely average speed, which can only be expected to get
worse as he matures. It will end up being a weakness in his overall game,
I imagine. Defensively, Marte is fairly polished for a young third
baseman, but does not possess an above average arm. He has decent range
and good hands, so he will likely remain at the hot corner, especially
since the Braves have a fairly sizable hole there in their organization.
For a youngster in a pitching-dominant league in low-A ball, Marte has
shown a great deal of promise in his first full season this year, in both
baseball skills and in the social aspect of life in America. In Rookie
ball, Marte could barely speak any English at all, and much of his poor
performance was blamed on "culture shock." Apparently, he has made great
strides in acclimating himself to minor league ball this year, which gives
us all another reason to discount his Rookie-level statistics.
The Braves have been a perennial contender for
a decade now, but opportunities for young players to step right in and
produce have still been prevalent. Currently, the Braves are weakest at
the positions that are easiest to fill, those being first base and third
base. Marte has a fairly clear path through the system, unless the
organization decides that they have to find a way to play Furcal, Giles,
Betemit, and Kelly Johnson in the future at the expense of someone like
Marte, which is not very likely. At this point, I would say that Andy
Marte could be Vinny Castilla without the Coors field effect, which is, of
course, a very valuable third baseman. Keep in mind, however, that Marte
has exactly one season of good performance in a pitchers’ league at low-A
under his belt, so there is a long way to go. With hitting prospects,
though, one of the most important factors is opportunity. Marte has that,
so he is a step ahead of most players at this stage of his
career.
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